“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Apology accepted,” he laughed, but it wasn’t a pleasant sort of laugh. It was the kind that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “After all, you just saved me searching around the palace all night.”
“What?” I breathed.
“Princess Naria,” he announced firmly as more blue-bannered guards appeared from behind him. “You’re under arrest.”
“I’m what?” I let out a yelp as a man twisted my arms behind my back.
“For bringing disease into the palace and endangering the royal family,” the guard continued casually, but I could barely hear his next words over the pounding of blood in my ears. “Prince Raphael is dying, and now you’re going to hang for it.”
CHAPTER 19
The prince has fishpox, I bet.The thought bounced around my head, growing louder with every drip of seawater against the floor of my prison cell. I’d never stepped foot into a dungeon until that night. Somehow, it was even dingier than I’d imagined. Iron bars served as a wall for one side of the cell, while the other three were made of crumbling sandstone. Moonlight crept in through the gaps in the walls, some large enough that everytime a wave crashed against the palace, I felt a cold splash on my face.
I wasn’t alone in my cage. In the echoey darkness, I could just about make out several pallets that had been scattered across the floor. One held both Marius and Terras they slept, huddled against each other. Another barely supported Ivy’s small body as she tossed and turned.
They didn’t deserve to be here. None of us did. But our protests didn’t seem to convince the guards as they tossed us all in here. ‘Dirty Corlixins’, they’d called us. If I wasn’t so distracted by the potential impending fishpox pandemic, I would’ve let Terrence make good on his threats to show them just how ‘foul’ Corlixins could be.
“Do you think they will feed us here?” Raena’s whisper carried through the darkness. She’d unfortunately been lumped in with us too, despite her not being from my kingdom. Like me, she hadn’t bothered to try and sleep. Although her reason was less to do with figuring out how to produce large quantities of fishpox cure and more to do with her not wanting her gown to get dirty, choosing instead to pace endlessly around our cell while she kept her skirts bundled in her arms.
“They’ll feed us,” I reassured her from my spot against the damp wall. “And I doubt we’ll be in here much longer. Lukas won’t be able to sleep if I’m not in my bedchamber. He’ll come for us all.”
“Erik will too. He said he wouldn’t rest until he found a way to set me free.” Raena nodded, continuing her pacing. “You should’ve seen how much of a fight he put up when they arrested me. Oh, Naria, it was awful. The way those filthy guards had their hands all over me. I could barely breathe through my crying—”
“Quiet in there!” the guard posted outside barked into our cell. Raena’s lips clamped shut with a whimper.
Biting down a frown, I hurried to her side and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’ll be alright,” I whispered while shesobbed quietly. “This is all some misunderstanding anyway. We didn’t bring any disease into the palace, and as soon as I can assure Queen Cora that we,” I gestured to my sleeping friends, “are the only ones who can save her son, along with the rest of her kingdom, then we’ll be out of here in a heartbeat.”
Raena buried her nose into my shoulder, groaning, “I just want a nice lavender-scented bath.”
“I know.” I rubbed her back soothingly. “I know.”
The sound of incoming footsteps tore us apart as a male figure approached our cell.
“Do you think he’s going to let us go?” Raena whispered.
My heart thrummed. “I’m not sure. Maybe?” There was nothing familiar about the man’s shape. He was tall and heavyset, and as he passed under a glowing torch, I didn’t recognise his face. But his eyes… They glinted in a way that reminded me of someone. Perhaps he was one of the guards posted outside my bedchamber? All the more reason to explain the warm relief that now flooded my body.
“I’m here to collect Princess Naria,” the stranger announced to our guard in a smooth voice. “Queen Cora wants to see her.” Within seconds, the door clicked unlocked and Raena grasped my arm.
When the man stepped inside, I spoke up with my fists clenched. “I’m not leaving my friends behind. If the Queen wants to see me, she’ll see all of us.”
The stranger chuckled. “I have orders for only you, Princess. The rest of them stay here.”
“Absolutely not.” My scowl deepened. “They are released, or I’m staying here with them.”
Raena shot me a nervous glance just as the guardstepped forward, growling, “You are to come with me, or I shall drag you from this cell.”
“Just go with him, Naria,” she whispered. “You can’t convince Cora to release us all if you’re stuck in here.”
She had a point. But still, it hurt to watch her pry her fingers off my arm so I could walk without her into the dingy corridor.
“Smart choice, my darling,” the guard said to me as we veered down a dark hallway, stopping by an empty cell. “Though I wouldn’t have minded holding you again.”
My brow shot up. “What?” But my voice became a squeak as the large guard shifted in front of me, transforming into a much slender figure. Metal armour melted into a dark tunic. His black hood softened into raven locks.
“Arenn…” I scowled. Of course it was him. That warmth I’d felt…
